Nigeria’s First Lady, Aisha Buhari, has assured that she will continue to support the girl-child and youths through her foundation.
The wife of President Muhammadu Buhari spoke on Saturday at the 1st edition of the ECOFEPA Women and Youth Leadership Symposium.
Read her full speech below:
I am happy to be part of the 1st edition of the ECOFEPA Women and Youth Leadership Symposium, which I consider it timely and a milestone in our development agenda.
The theme: Unleashing the Potentials of Women and Youth in Politics and Entrepreneurshipreflects on ECOFEPA’s efforts to resolve the economic challenges of women and youth. This forum therefore provides an avenue to explore and share experiences on best practices as it concerns leadership and entrepreneurship for women and youth.
The potentials of this forum in developing women and youth are enormous.
I applaud the leadership of the ECOWAS Parliament, headed by Rt. Hon. Mohammed Sidie Tunis and equally congratulate the organizers of today’s forum (ECOFEPA), for coming up with this laudable theme.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen; today, we are all mindful of our social and economic challenges, and the conflict situations confronting our continent. However, in our quest for solutions these problems, it is necessary to first of all, explore all factors in order to appreciate these challenges.
The challenges of climate change on our environments and its effects on our socio-economic conditions have some devasting effects on our lives. The role of women and youths is not isolated but what is most important is exploring ways of cushioning the effects of the so desperate and hopeless situations that we find ourselves today.
While we struggle to find solutions, we should not be unmindful of the vicious cycle that has deepened our structural vulnerabilities, transcending into poor economic conditions and conflict situations that imposed hardships, particularly on women, youth and children.
On the part of the African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM), several efforts have been made in promoting peace and development.
Through the instrumentation of the AFLPM, complementary efforts in managing conflict situations locally were explored. It is important to mention that the interventions made by the African First Ladies have helped in supporting women, youth and children across the continent. Many projects and programmes were mounted including the empowerment of women and youth and, provision of relief materials to the millions of Africans trapped in humanitarian crises across the continent.
On my part, the Aisha Buhari Foundation and Future Assured Programme have made a lot of contributions in improving the lives of women, youth and children by providing education to the less privileged, provision of scholarships, healthcare and empowerment.
As partners in providing solutions to our continent’s desperate situations, AFLPM work in collaboration with the African Union (AU) and ECOWAS to promote in promoting the agenda peace and development. I am as the President of AFLPM therefore committed to building partnerships and collaborations in alleviating the sufferings of our people, especially women, youth and children.
I challenge all stakeholders to network and engage more in strategic thinking and explore workable solutions that can uplift the status of women, youth and our economies. Training the women, youth and the girl-child will empower them more and heighten their chances of political leadership and inclusiveness. Let us not only advocate, but take a clue from our past experiences and reality to come up with more innovative and responsive programmes that could match the thinking of modern times.
We all know that numerous opportunities are flying everywhere but only the entrepreneurial minds succeed in tapping these opportunities. In line with the thinking of ECOFEPA to empower women and the girl-child, let us strategize more to educate and build a strong, peaceful and reliable nation. The African First Ladies cannot do it alone with Members of the ECOFEPA without the involvement of other critical stakeholders. It is natural and more beneficial if we come together to make it happen. I believe we can!
I thank all for listening and wish you fruitful deliberation. Thank you!
Protocal
- Hon. Sidie Mohamed Tunis, Speaker, ECOWAS Parliament
- Her Excellency, Madam Finda Koroma, Vice President, ECOWAS Commission
- Her Excellency, Mrs. Pauline Tallen, Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development
- Hon Wuroye Sarr, President of ECOWAS Female Parliamentarian Association
- ECOWAS Members of Parliament of ECOFEPA
- Secretary General ECOWAS Parliament Barr Zainab Marwa, Special Assistant, Community Affairs to the Hon Minister of Federal Capital Territory
- Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, Chief Executive Officer, Tony Elumelu Foundation
- Dr Amina Sambo Magaji, Deputy Director, Digital Economy Department, National Information Technology Development Agency
- (NITDA)
- Fati Ibrahim, President, Pan African Global Network
- Dr Eno Praise, Representative of the Three Sixteen Leadership Institute
- Christopher Odezi Aluta, Group Managing Director of the Protection Plus Services Group
- Staff of the ECOWAS Parliament
- Invited Guest, Gentlemen of the Press, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
